This invention relates generally to object tracking and control systems and more particularly to enhancements usable with such systems for tracking larger or collections of keys and loose objects other than keys.
Many objects have intrinsic value or have value because they provide access to other valuable objects. For instance, jewelry and coins have inherent and intrinsic value while keys, such as keys to vehicles, have value because they provide access to other valuable objects, namely automobiles and trucks. Further, access to and control of some items, such as narcotics for example, needs to be monitored, tracked, and controlled to assure against unauthorized access or to assure that proper and appropriate access is catalogued. There is a serious need to be able to track, catalogue access to, and control such objects in a way that is reliable, simple to implement, and virtually tamper proof.
In the past, a variety of systems have been implemented to track and control objects. In the case of keys in an automobile dealership, for example, peg boards have been used to keep track of the keys as salespersons, maintenance personnel, and others remove keys for access to vehicles. Generally, sign-out sheets have been used to log the check-in and check-out of such keys. Obviously, such a manual system of tracking has numerous shortcomings due in large part to the very real potential of human error and forgetfulness in carrying out the sign-in and sign-out procedures.
More recently, automated computer controlled key tracking systems have been implemented for tracking, for example, vehicle keys at car lots and keys to the apartments of apartment complexes. One such system particularly applicable to the present invention is the key tracking system disclosed and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,628 and my pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/073,757, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated fully by reference. In this system, referred to herein as the xe2x80x9cKey Trackxe2x80x9d system, keys to a vehicle are attached with a rivet or the like to a thin plastic key tag having a depending tongue. The tongue carries a small button-shaped electronic touch memory device, which stores a ID code. The tongues of the key tags are configured to be insertable in an array of slots formed in a panel within a storage drawer. A printed circuit back plane is disposed beneath the array of slots and is provided with a plurality of pairs of metal contacts, each pair of contacts being aligned with a corresponding one of the slots. When the tongue of a key tag is inserted in a selected one of the slots, its touch memory device is engaged by the corresponding pair of contacts.
A computer based controller is electronically coupled through a data matrix to the contacts on the back plane and periodically polls each pair of contacts, preferably several times per second, to determine the presence or absence of a touch memory device and thus which slots contain key tags and which do not. When a slot contains a key tag, the touch memory device of the tag is read to determine its ID code, from which the identity of the particular key on the tag can be determined through a table lookup. In this way, the absence or presence and location of the key tags and their associated keys can be noted by the controller each time the array of contacts are polled. If a tag present in a slot on a prior polling is absent on a subsequent polling, then the controller notes that that the tag and its key has been removed from the storage drawer. Conversely, if a key tag is detected in a previously empty slot, the controller notes that the tag and its key have been replaced in the storage drawer. The removal and replacement of keys is therefore continuously monitored.
An access feature requires an authorized user such a salesperson to enter an ID code to unlock and access the storage drawer. When the history of removal and replacement of key tags and their keys is combined with other information, such as the time at which tags are removed and replaced and the identities of the persons who accessed the drawer and times of access, access to the keys in the drawer can be controlled and a detailed tracking log can be created. This system greatly decreases instances of lost keys, reduces the time required to find checked-out keys, and generally provides automatic tracking and control of the keys, and thus, to a large extent, controls and tracks the vehicles to which they provide access.
While the Key Track system described above has proven extremely valuable in the tracking and control of keys, it nevertheless has been limited somewhat in the situations to which it is readily applicable. For example, the tags used with the system are made of thin relatively flat plastic material that generally provides for the attachment of a single or only a few keys to the tag. It has been difficult to attach a large collection of keys such as keys on a key ring and even more difficult to attach larger special function keys such as keys that incorporate electronic transmitters for locking and unlocking a car remotely. In these situations, it has been experienced that keys can fall or hang into the slots of the Key Track drawer and short out one or more of the contacts on the backplane, resulting in system errors or failure. While simply providing larger tags is helpful, it has not proven to be a complete solution. Furthermore, the system has generally been poorly applicable to the tracking of loose items such as, for example, jewelry, narcotics, and the like because such items cannot easily be attached to a tag. The present invention is intended to enhance and expand the basic Key Track system for application to these and other situations.
Another relative shortcoming of present electronic key tracking systems such as the Key Track system, and object tracking systems in general, has been limitations resulting from the fact that the keys are only detectable upon check-in and check-out at a central storage location. This has meant that tracking of keys has generally been limited to keeping a log of when the keys are physically removed and replaced in a central storage receptacle. The disposition of keys in the interim has not been trackable. Nevertheless, it is clearly useful to track the movement and use of keys and other objects in the interim between the times when they are checked out and checked back in at the central storage location. For example, in the case of tracking use of keys to apartments by maintenance personnel, it is desirable to know not only that a group of keys were checked out and checked back in at particular times, but also when the keys were used in the interim to access apartments. Such information can be useful, for example, when claims of theft or vandalism are levied against security personnel. It can also be useful in general security dispatching to insure that security guards check in at all required stations while making security rounds and to log the activities of such guards during their rounds. In the tracking of narcotics at a hospital, it is desirable to know when and by whom particular narcotics are checked out and checked back in and also the time at which the narcotics are accessed in the interim between check-out and check-in times. In this way, confirmation that patients receive the proper prescriptions at the proper times can easily be made by referring to the resulting log of check-out, access, and check in times. The basic Key Track system has not been readily applicable to such situations.
Thus, even though the Key Track system has proven very useful, there exists a continuing need to enhance the system by providing for the tracking of larger and bulkier keys and key collections, by providing for the tracking and control of the use of keys and other articles in the interim between check out and check in, and, in a more general sense, to provide for the tracking and control of larger or loose items such as jewelry and narcotics. It is to the provision of such enhancements and improvements that the present invention is primarily directed.
Briefly described, the present invention, in one preferred embodiment thereof, comprises enhancements to the Key Track system disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,628 to adapt the system for use in tracking and controlling large collections of or bulky keys, such as keys on a key ring or remote access transmitter keys, and in tracking and controlling larger or loose objects other than keys. The heart of the enhancement is a carrier or box adapted to contain a ring of keys, a larger electronic access key, or objects other than keys, such as, for example, jewelry or narcotics. In one embodiment, the carrier comprises a rectangular box-shaped container with an openable door panel on one side. The door panel may be hinged for access to the container or may be displacably or removably attached in another way such as by sliding attachment slots. In one configuration for use with keys on a key ring, the container has a slot on its bottom side and the key ring is provided with an ID tag having a relatively thin plastic tongue carrying a touch memory device. In use, the container is opened and the key ring is placed in the container with its ID tag extending through the slot in the bottom of the container. The container is then shut to contain the key ring and its keys whereupon the entire container can be selectively placed in and removed from the Key Track drawer with the protruding ID tag extending into one of the key tag slots in the drawer. The key ring is thus tracked and access to it controlled in the same manner as a single key attached to a traditional key tag.
To facilitate the alignment of containers with slots in the Key Track drawer, an overlay formed of stamped metal or a wire grid can be attached within the Key Track drawer overlying the slots. The overlay defines an array of openings, each sized to receive a container. The openings are positioned such that when a container is slid into one of the openings, the protruding ID tag is directed into one of the slots in the drawer allowing the controller to read the presence of the ID tag and its key ring within the drawer.
Another embodiment of the invention is intended for use with bulky keys having built in remote entry transmitters or with remote entry transmitters not combined with keys. It has previously been difficult to attach such items to a key tag in the traditional key track system. A smaller container, preferably made of molded plastic, is sized to contain a remote entry key or transmitter. The container comprises rectangular box having an open side for access. A tongue, similar to the tongues on the key tags of the Key Track system, is fixed to the bottom wall of the container and depends therefrom. A touch memory device is carried by the tongue and the tongue is configured to be inserted into the slots in the Key Track drawer. A sliding panel is adapted to slide onto the container from the bottom side thereof and to cover the open side for closing the container and capturing a key in the container. When a key is closed in the container, the container can be placed in one of the slots in a Key Track drawer with its tongue and touch memory device extending into the slot in the traditional way. The attached controller is thus able to detect and track the insertion and subsequent removal of the container from the drawer. Since the sliding panel is slid onto the box from the bottom to close the container, the panel cannot be removed for access to the key without first removing the container from the Key Track drawer, which will be detected by the controller. Thus, since the keys cannot be removed without detection, a measure of security for relatively expensive remote entry transmitters and keys is provided. In addition, since the key is closed within the container, it is protected and its identity cannot be determined simply by looking into the Key Track drawer. Only the controller is able to identify the location of a particular key within the drawer upon a proper query by an authorized user.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the carrier and Key Track system are enhanced to expand the system beyond its traditional use for tracking keys to a general object tracking and control system. This embodiment is particularly useful for tracking valuable objects such as jewelry or for tracking the use of controlled substances such as narcotics and medication. A set of containers is provided, each container having a box with an open side and a hinged panel that covers the open side and closes the container. The container is provided with a slot or pocket in which a printed circuit board can be slid. The printed circuit board carries a memory device storing a ID code and may also carry other components such as a microcontroller, ancillary memory, an RF transmitter, an RFID tag, and related components. Conductive pads on the printed circuit board are coupled to the components on the board for electronically accessing the components.
A drawer or other storage receptacle is provided for receiving the containers of this embodiment. The drawer has an overlay panel formed with an array of openings or bays each sized to receive one of the containers. A printed circuit back plane is disposed behind the overlay panel and has a plurality of sets of conductive contacts, each set of contacts positioned to engage the conductive pads of a container""s printed circuit board when the container is inserted into the corresponding bay. The contacts are wired in a data matrix, which is connected to a computer-based controller as in the traditional Key Track system. Use of this embodiment is similar to use of the traditional Key Track system. The controller detects and logs the removal and replacement of containers in the drawer by reading the ID codes of the memory devices associated with the containers.
This embodiment also may include a further enhancement wherein the printed circuit boards in the containers are more sophisticated and are configured to log the opening and closing of the container between the times when it is checked out and checked back in at the storage drawer. The container may also be provided with sensors to gather other information in the interim period such as, for example, the times when the container passed location transmitters, identification numbers from patient arm bands or ID buttons, or other information. This information can be downloaded to the controller upon check in and correlated with other information to provide valuable data compilations and reports. Such information is useful, for example, in the dispensing of drugs to patients in a hospital, where it is desired to log when the drugs are checked out, by whom, at what times the container was opened while checked out for access to the drugs stored inside, and the identities of patients provided with drugs. This information can be correlated to medication schedules for patients to insure that patients are being provided with the proper drugs at the proper times.
The printed circuit boards of this embodiment can be even further enhanced with simple RF transmitters and/or RFID tags available from a variety of manufacturers. RFID tags are adapted to transmit a code and/or other information to a receiver coupled to the computer-based controller and can be used as an alternative to touch memory devices. Other RF transmitters can be provided if desired to transmit a code upon the occurrence of prescribed events such as, for example, each time the door of the container is opened and its contents accessed. Such functionality provides for real time tracking of access to the container in the interim between check-out and check-in times.
Thus, an improved and enhanced method and system for tracking and controlling keys and other objects is now provided. The traditional Key Track system is enhanced to accommodate large numbers of keys on a key ring, bulky or unusually shaped keys and remote entry transmitters, and valuable or controlled loose objects other than keys. In one embodiment, object containers are provided with active electronics, which tracks and logs access to the container between the times when it is check out and checked back in. In another embodiment, an RF transmitter or RFID tag is provided for radio frequency communication to the controller. These and other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon review of the detailed description set forth below taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, which are briefly described as follows.